Top positive review

So it appears I am the first reviewer to have actually paid for this ;)

There's a lot of cheaper, unbranded and fairly tacky looking wake-up lights out there and I was happy to see this recently released budget model from Lumie, who have been making quality sunrise and SAD lights for years.

Out of the box this is a nice looking unit and feels well made. No nasty looking plasticky fake chrome effects to be found - just a smooth white (with a bit of grey) matte finish all over.

I only really bought it for the wake-up light, and particularly the option to have no sound on the alarm which seems absent on some of the cheapo models - I still wanted to use my phone for my final 'get-up' alarm.

On this model, the light starts half an hour before your programmed alarm time and starts low, brightening up in small increments. My biggest issue with it is that the light is too bright after only 10-15 mins, and I've been having to try out later alarm times so that the light is still a nice level when my phone alarm finally goes off. I've now also covered it with a bit of muslin cloth to soften it further, and I face it away from my bed to it's not glaring at me when I get up.

I wish there was a way that you could programme the maximum brightness on the wakeup light but as this is the budget model I assume they had to reduce the amount of customisations you can make. Perhaps this is something that's available on one of their more expensive models?

Other than the wake-up light, there is the choice of 5 alarm sounds which will sound (if the volume is set) at the programmed alarm time. Some of them are a bit weird (goats and purring kittens?!) but I'm content to use my phone alarm for sound anyway.

There is a sunset feature which is effectively the opposite of the wake-up light for when you are reading at night or whatever.

It can also be used as a bedside light - the standard light is warm white (as is the wake-up light). There is the option to have a coloured light or mood lighting (cycles through colours) on the standard light function. Nice for a kid perhaps but I can't see myself using it that much. The standard light is dimmable. The coloured lights can't be used as the wake-up light unfortunately.

You can dim the clock time - bright, medium or off. Which is a nice feature, although the medium is still fairly bright. If you have the clock light set to off it will come on when your wake-up light comes on so you know what time it is. Only problem is you have to look into the bright light of the wake-up light to see the time.

One other very minor bugbear is that the wake up light doesn't switch itself off after a period of time. You have to manually switch it off. I only realised this after I went away for a weekend and forgot to switch the alarm off beforehand. The light must have been on all weekend...

Instructions are minimal but give enough info and are well written. There is a removable labelled plastic film on the front of the unit to get you started on which each button does. I still needed to read the instruction booklet though.

Overall it's a good unit and I'm going to stick with it. Light is definitely gentler to wake up to than noise, and it's making getting up a little easier now the mornings are so dark again. I'm glad I paid a little more for a Lumie model over one of the cheaper ones, but I wasn't prepared to pay silly money for one of their more expensive models. So I guess like most things - you get what you pay for.

Top critical review

3.0 out of 5 starsSolid. Covers what I need without stuff I don’t. SEE UPDATE

17 October 2018

It seems to be pretty difficult to find a decent sunrise alarm. They all seem to have their own quirks. All I wanted is the sunrise light. No sounds, alarms, blue tooth or radio. This does have the alarm and sounds but it is possible to set the volume to zero.Also it is important that the display can be turned off ... this can ... but it comes back on each time the alarm goes off so needs to be turned back off every night.The sunset aspect wasn’t something I had thought about but is great now I have it.The only negative aspect of this sunrise alarm from my point of view is that the lowest light level is brighter than I would like. It would be nice if this last/first stage of the sunset/sunrise was more gentle.Overall I am happy that I went for this branded Lumie product over the many cheaper unbranded products as they don’t seem to have the option to turn the sounds or the clock display off.I am also glad that didn’t go for one of the more expensive Lumie or Philips lamps as they seem to have a myriad of unnecessary (for me) features.

Update: the brightness of the lowest light level was something I found I could not live with. The this has now been replace by a Lumie bodyclock spark 100 which has less features but has a much better wake-up and sunset lamp.

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So it appears I am the first reviewer to have actually paid for this ;)

There's a lot of cheaper, unbranded and fairly tacky looking wake-up lights out there and I was happy to see this recently released budget model from Lumie, who have been making quality sunrise and SAD lights for years.

Out of the box this is a nice looking unit and feels well made. No nasty looking plasticky fake chrome effects to be found - just a smooth white (with a bit of grey) matte finish all over.

I only really bought it for the wake-up light, and particularly the option to have no sound on the alarm which seems absent on some of the cheapo models - I still wanted to use my phone for my final 'get-up' alarm.

On this model, the light starts half an hour before your programmed alarm time and starts low, brightening up in small increments. My biggest issue with it is that the light is too bright after only 10-15 mins, and I've been having to try out later alarm times so that the light is still a nice level when my phone alarm finally goes off. I've now also covered it with a bit of muslin cloth to soften it further, and I face it away from my bed to it's not glaring at me when I get up.

I wish there was a way that you could programme the maximum brightness on the wakeup light but as this is the budget model I assume they had to reduce the amount of customisations you can make. Perhaps this is something that's available on one of their more expensive models?

Other than the wake-up light, there is the choice of 5 alarm sounds which will sound (if the volume is set) at the programmed alarm time. Some of them are a bit weird (goats and purring kittens?!) but I'm content to use my phone alarm for sound anyway.

There is a sunset feature which is effectively the opposite of the wake-up light for when you are reading at night or whatever.

It can also be used as a bedside light - the standard light is warm white (as is the wake-up light). There is the option to have a coloured light or mood lighting (cycles through colours) on the standard light function. Nice for a kid perhaps but I can't see myself using it that much. The standard light is dimmable. The coloured lights can't be used as the wake-up light unfortunately.

You can dim the clock time - bright, medium or off. Which is a nice feature, although the medium is still fairly bright. If you have the clock light set to off it will come on when your wake-up light comes on so you know what time it is. Only problem is you have to look into the bright light of the wake-up light to see the time.

One other very minor bugbear is that the wake up light doesn't switch itself off after a period of time. You have to manually switch it off. I only realised this after I went away for a weekend and forgot to switch the alarm off beforehand. The light must have been on all weekend...

Instructions are minimal but give enough info and are well written. There is a removable labelled plastic film on the front of the unit to get you started on which each button does. I still needed to read the instruction booklet though.

Overall it's a good unit and I'm going to stick with it. Light is definitely gentler to wake up to than noise, and it's making getting up a little easier now the mornings are so dark again. I'm glad I paid a little more for a Lumie model over one of the cheaper ones, but I wasn't prepared to pay silly money for one of their more expensive models. So I guess like most things - you get what you pay for.

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It seems to be pretty difficult to find a decent sunrise alarm. They all seem to have their own quirks. All I wanted is the sunrise light. No sounds, alarms, blue tooth or radio. This does have the alarm and sounds but it is possible to set the volume to zero.Also it is important that the display can be turned off ... this can ... but it comes back on each time the alarm goes off so needs to be turned back off every night.The sunset aspect wasn’t something I had thought about but is great now I have it.The only negative aspect of this sunrise alarm from my point of view is that the lowest light level is brighter than I would like. It would be nice if this last/first stage of the sunset/sunrise was more gentle.Overall I am happy that I went for this branded Lumie product over the many cheaper unbranded products as they don’t seem to have the option to turn the sounds or the clock display off.I am also glad that didn’t go for one of the more expensive Lumie or Philips lamps as they seem to have a myriad of unnecessary (for me) features.

Update: the brightness of the lowest light level was something I found I could not live with. The this has now been replace by a Lumie bodyclock spark 100 which has less features but has a much better wake-up and sunset lamp.

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I am going to return this unit because:1. The clock brightness has 3 settings, off, low and high but 'Low' is actually very very bright, it lights up the whole room, totally unsuitable for night time use as it would keep me awake, so the only option is to switch it to off making the clock a bit pointless.2. I could live with a useless clock but the biggest problem is the alleged sunrise feature. This unit does not gradually fade up as you would expect, it basically comes on instantly half an hour before the alarm at a "minimum" brightness level which is actually very bright in a dark room and wakes me up immediately. See video clip attached which shows the alarm at first switch on, it is crazy, this is hardly a gradual sunrise!The unit then increases from the very bright minimum up to maximum which is insanely brightly after a few minutes. Far from being a gentle wake up its more of a shock tactic I guess.3. The novelty sounds I'm not really interested in but for others even at minimum volume it is pretty loud and annoying, the loops are very short repeats which gets tedious quite quickly, again could not be further from a pleasant wake up.

So really disappointed with Lumie, I purchased this unit instead of the cheaper ones on Amazon to avoid exactly these sorts of problems but this fails miserably at it's main purpose which is the sunrise feature. I really can't believe how bad this is. The only fade up is from bright to very bright, completely useless.

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Have wanted a sunrise alarm for quite a while now and with so much choice available it can be quite difficult to choose, however, as soon as I saw this Lumie model I felt happy to purchase and I’m glad I did!It’s very simple to set up and I don’t need to refer to the instruction leaflet everytime I need to change a setting. This model has lots of settings including the sunset feature which I absolutely love, it really helps me to unwind and I generally fall asleep before the light goes out.The sunrise function works very well as it brings me out of sleep gently with the increase in light and by the time the birds start tweeting (alarm setting) I’m ready to open my eyes and start the day!Also this model has a battery powered back up in the event of a power cut, which keeps the alarm and clock settings, so no risk of over sleeping!I would definitely recommend this alarm it really does make waking up nicer experience.

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Really pleased with my Lumie! It's easy to set up and works beautifully to lighten the room slowly and then I wake up to the sound of a blackbird singing. I can read by the light of it and the fading sunset is so relaxing when I'm ready to sleep. It does what it says it does!!

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I guess you could call me a Lumie fan. So I feel qualified to say that in trying to make a good budget model, they blew it here. It's light, small and digitally user-friendly. But the key feature which transformed my morning rise ten years ago has essentially been dumped. The point of this clock is to simulate the natural dawn. Which, in case anyone's forgotten, is a slow, gradual rise from darkness to full sunlight. I don't remember the sun suddenly popping up out of nowhere and switching on to a low but intrusive brightness, then stepping up to full beam over the next half hour. But that's what this light does. The sunset feature seems to do the same thing in reverse. I don't know why they went with that idea but it defeats the object of my having one. So I've bought a nearly new Starter model for £20 with the gradual sunrise and I’m back to normal. I'll just keep this one stored as a back up and save for one of their more expensive upgraded (digital) domes which, as far as I can tell, still has the proper sunrise.

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Have used Lumie sunrise alarms for years but this is the first LED version I've had. Previously owned the lowest priced sunrise alarm with a light bulb. Only reason I no longer own it is due to it breaking whilst moving. I wanted something a little bit more affordable and with a few sound options, and less bulky than the usual Lumie alarms as I was never keen on their size.

I was pleased to see this cheaper option but mindful of the reviews stating the sunset and sunrise options were not as good and that it may be too bright. I have to agree with them.

However, whilst the LED doesn't dim-down or dim-up as gradually as the other Lumie clocks, I still find it useful for me. The light is a bit too bright for my taste but I placed a light coloured cloth over the clock and now I find it much better. The sounds are great. I use the Blackbird. I do like the other ones, though not sure I want to hear goats at 6 am.

If you are light-sensitive, as I am, this may be too bright for you so I'd suggest one of the light-bulb Lumie clocks instead. I'd also wish that Lumie had made the clock digits a more pleasant colour than bright red. Green would have been much nicer for the eyes. I do like the option that I can turn off the digits so they don't disturb me at night.

Think Lumie missed the opportunity to corner the market by making a more dimmable less bright alarm. I'm still happy with it, but if it wasn't for the fact I love the sounds, and I've managed to dim the bright light, I'd be returning this. So be mindful of these things before you purchase. Everyone's eye vision/sensitivity differs so others may be perfectly happy with it.

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Clock is easy to use and does all I need. Glad I didn't pay more for extra features. The 'sunrise' is 30 mins - no option to alter - but I just adjust alarm time accordingly. Initially light woke me immediately and quite suddenly - so set it to start later. But after a day or two it took most of 30 min sunrise to rouse me so moved earlier. I now tend to wake just a few mins before my alarm time feeling like I woke naturally - rather than being wrenched screaming, wailing and nauseous from a deep pit of sleep. Oh yes - the fake sunrise has been a massive help for me: back to being the lark I am all summer. Noises on this clock all pretty crazy - goats??? And the kitten sounds terrifying - more like a dragon. I just still use my phone for final alarm. Clock light is quite bright - even on lower setting. I just angle away from bed slightly. Heaven knows why I'd want the coloured lights - but just ignore them.

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The clock was very easy to set up. the instructions are clear to follow. I like the clock shape and the LED is bright, I was bothered by this at first but I just turn the clock away from the bed. I didn't use the slumber setting so cant comment on that, but the alarm set-up is good, the lamp lights up on time, 30 mins before the alarm sound you have pre-set.The brightness of the lamp increases gradually over that half hour, so a much more pleasant start to your day than a clattering alarm.I found the bird sounds a bit much for me but there are options for you to pick the sounds you prefer.A good purchase so pleased I went for this product.

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I bought this to replace my body starter 30, which died a few months out of guarantee. I really liked the sun rise feature of my old clock, and wanted to add the birdsong as I liked that when using my phone app (as a stand in). Sadly this clock does not meet expectations. The level of light the sunrise feature starts on is like an interrogation spotlight suddenly being switched on next to the bed, not the gentle sunrise nature of my old clock. Unfortunately the bird song feature is worse. No gentle tweeting birds getting louder as time passes. No, straight into a blackbird yelling at you!

The other thing I’m not keen on is that the time is not in green like the bodystarter, but a very aggressive red. Even on the lowest setting it bathes the bedroom in a red glow.

Overall very disappointing, with Lumie being such market leader. I’d buy another bodystarter 30 but I cannot justify the cost if it’s only going to last 2 and a bit years.